


Just Know that I'm alright, I was not Afraid to Die

by AmericaChavez (aka_Kamala_Khan)



Series: I'll Always Come Back, If Only For One Night, If Only As A Ghost Of Who I Once Was [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Bruce Wayne is Trying to be a Good Dad, Canonical Character Death, Death is a character, Dick Grayson isn't a Good Brother, Emotionally Repressed, Gen, Heavy Swearing, Hurt, Jason Todd is Robin, Jason Wants to be Family, Jason-Centric, Mexican-American Jason Todd, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, angry dick grayson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-09-20 08:56:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9483800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aka_Kamala_Khan/pseuds/AmericaChavez
Summary: A retelling of Jason Todd's time as Robin where his life is heavily influenced by culture, experience, and death. Where Batman is only human, makes mistakes, but isn't excused from facing the consequences. Where Batman initially adopts a child because he misses Robin. Where Dick Grayson has every right to be angry but he fails to see he's angry for all the wrong reasons. Where they place the burden of the world on Jason's frail shoulders  and are surprised when the pressure crushes him .





	

**Author's Note:**

> This an alternate universe I've been thinking about for a while. The ages, character personalities and time line will be changed. There is cussing in both English and Spanish with rough translation. I don't know how long it's going to be or when I'll update but I'm going to try to for new chapters every week. Please comment if anything is glaringly wrong, you have ideas, or anything else. The writing style may change from chapter to chapter.

It is undeniable that Jason’s life would be volatile regardless of how it was to happen. The boy had too much fire, pain, too much unbridled strength for anything else. If the bat had not taken him in, Jason would have still left his mark, perhaps his unfortunate life would leave him angry at the world enough for him to try and fight back. That life would have led to the rise to another hero (truthfully, it would be more likely for him to become another villain), but that night, when Jason saw the car worth more than the apartments in the alley it was parked beside, was the snowball that began decent down the right side of the mountain.  
Jason whistled to drown out the silence as he walked down the sidewalk. The street was deserted (anyone even semi decent living in Crime Alley would know not to be out so late at night) but Jason didn’t mind. The night air was still and hot and for that Jason was grateful, his winter jacket was nothing but rags now, he didn’t have to waste any (see nonexistent) money on clothes instead of food. It was a rare night when the moon was visible through Gotham City’s ever present clouds. The moonlight illuminated the streets, exposing Gotham’s secrets. Jason kept his shoulders hunched walking towards home, his head hung low gave the illusion the child payed no attention as he passed apartments, cars, and alleys. However as he passed a particular alley that still clung to the darkness around it a glint caught his eye.   
He moved closer, careful to seem casual, so no one else would get suspicious (there was no one else but better safe than sorry). When his eyes adjusted to the dark he let out a long whistle, “oh, shit. Que pendejo me dejo regalo?” (What motherfucker left me a gift?), it was then he noticed the outline of a bat on the car and a grin stretched itself from ear to ear. For the first time in his miserable life Jason thought he might have a bit of good luck on his side. Disregarding previous caution he ran the rest of the way to his apartment for his tire iron; he didn’t know how much time he would have before the bat himself came back. When he returned to the car he set to work immediately (he had nothing left to lose, hadn’t for a long time, but everything to gain). The first tire was off in record time, it was hidden under bags of garbage that populated the alley. The second tire was off just as quick as the first but instead of garbage bags it was thrown into a nearby dumpster (after all the city didn’t bother with this part of town, the trash would rot there). The third was rolled into a crevice where the walls didn’t quite meet. He was on the fourth when he was grabbed by the pack of his shirt and pulled up. In his surprised his grip on the tire iron became impregnable and he soon saw himself leveled with the face of Batman, “What do you think you’re doing.” 

“No hablo inglės” The lie rolled off his tongue fluidly, there was no hesitation, he was only betrayed by the quiver in his voice. 

“Que piensas que estas hacienda?” Batman replied easily. Jason stared hard at him with his fingers clutching the bar, leaned forward, and slightly bared his teeth. 

“Surviving,” and with that he swung the tire catching Batman under the rib, where he knew (from personal experience) the most damage would be felt. As anticipated Batman’s grip loosened and Jason threw himself down in a swift motion he threw the iron aside and started running, “Catch me if you can, boboso” (idiot). Jason might have dropped out of school but he wasn’t stupid, he didn’t expect to out run Batman (he expected to out knowledge him in Gotham, thank you very much), he just needed to get out of sight first. He was in the midst of climbing the fence when he was pulled back and once again found him staring at the unblinking lens of Batman’s cowl.

“You are going to put the wheels back” 

“Yeah, yeah, no chinges guey,”(fuck off stupid) and with that Jason found himself once again in front of the batmobile. With less enthusiasm then before Jason set to work: first fishing the wheels out of their respective hiding spots. Under Batman’s watchful albeit awkward stare (stare? glare?... sglare?) Jason put back the wheels. He took his sweet old time in attempt to stall what was coming next, which was probably jail. The closer to finishing the bigger the pool of dread in his stomach grew, when he did finish he let go of a ragged breath. “There, all done, good as new, now I learned my lesson, won’t ever forget it, stealing is wrong –“ and once again he was pulled up. Irritation replaced previous fear and Jason let Batman know what he was thinking, “Really man, really? I get it, I’m small your big. But can you stop? This is my best shirt, it doesn’t have holes or nuthin”. Jason saw Batman’s lips quirk slightly.

“I have one question for you and you better think hard about the answer,” he stopped for dramatics, “Are you hungry?”


End file.
